Improvement in machines for pressing tobacco



2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

PRESS FOR PRESSING, FLATTBNING, AND SHAPING PLUG TOBACCOs N0. 8,909. Patented Apr. 27, 1852.

' S E. PARKER. PRESS FOR PRESSING, FLATTENING, AND SHAPING PLUG TOBACCO.

N0.8,909. *P atented Apr. 27, 18524.

PATENT EPHR'A'IM PARKER, or noon Is Am) o TYj, ILLINOIS, Assienon TO ALFRED A. PARKER.

IMPROVEMENT, lN'MACHlNESYFOR PRESSING TOBACCO.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 8,909,- dated April 27, 1852.

'To all whomyit may concern;

Be it known that L-EPHRAIM PARKER, of Rock Island, county of Rock Island, and State of Illinois, (assignor to ALFRED A.- PARKER, of St. Louis, in-the county of St. Louis and State of. Missouri,) have invented a new and useful Machine for Pressing, Flattening, and

Shapingilobacco into'Plugs of Commerce; and

I do hereby'declarethe following to be a full,

clear," and exact description thereof, reference beingihad to the accompanyin g drawings, and

letters-marked thereon, forming a part of this specification;

I have been "for several years engaged in endeavoring to constructamachine capable of flattening, shaping gand' pressin'gjtobacco into plugs such as those; of "commerce, so as to 1 obviate ,the. great 'difficulties existing to a practicable application I of -machinery t6 that purpose," which I have at last accomplished,- the efficacy of whichI have proved by actual experiment upon alarge scale. I The great ob-- stacles heretofore existing in'the-wayrof performing this operation by machinery have been the'diffieultyof keeping-the sinkers or pressers and the cells or molds in whichthe'tobacco is pressed free from the gum and licorice of the tobacco, and preventing the plugs, after leav-.

ingfthe molds, fromswelling 'out'of shape, which they will-do immediately after being released from pressure, all, devices for these purposes heretofore used being found too oomplicated, liable to'get out of order, and alto-" 'gether' impracticable;

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a side elevation of my machine, with portions of the frame and wheels broken ofl' to'sh'ow- 'importantpart's' which; would otherwise be,

hid; Fig. 2, an endview, Fig. 3 a top or planview, and Figita section through the con ductor, a portionof the disk 3 anddisoharger' 12, in each of which when the same parts are shown they are designated by the same letters of reference.

2 is the frame, resting on piecesof timber which support and sustain the moving machin ery, which may be made of iron or other suitable material; 35a revolving disk in which the molds or cells are cut; an(1it can be made large enough to containfouror any desired'number of them of iron, and the molds lined with steel or the .whole disli'for'med of chilled orcase- I hardened metal. The molds or cells are out through the disks, and the bottomszof them are formedbya revolving bed-plate, 4, the periphery of which is formed into cogs which mesh into a pinion on the disk communicatingthe desired motionto it, and it is provided witha steel scraper, 5, screwed to one side of the frame,"and a cloth-roller, 6, revolving in a frame'working on the other side of the frame. -'Ihis roller is keptsaturated with oil by occasionally replenishing it witha saturated sponge, J

or an oil box .can be constructed over it, and

- followsi-after the scraper to oil the surfaceof thebed platei 1 The bedplate revolves much a rate as to'fpresent a cleanand' oiled bottom to every ,inold vor cell, at each pressing the gum, licorice, &c., of thetoba'cco being scraped off by said scraper 5, and the surface of the bed (which as it revolves'becomes the bottom ofgtlie mold) is kept moistened'with-oil by said cloth roller 6." Thus a clean, and oiled bottom:

'is-formed'tothe' molds at'each pressing. The :pressure is attained bymeans of double togg1-e-levers 7 7 connected to the d'riving-shaft' by the pitman S. In 'orderto keep: the sinklens 9 cleanandfree from the=gum, &c ,ojfthe tobacco, Iform them, four or morelin number,

on a shaftioperated upon 'by suitable. mechanism in'such'a manner, hereinafter describefi, thatthey shall revolve after every eight press ings,lso as'to'present anew sinker; and'I pr'o vide a pan, 10, underneath the"-sinkers,'in 'which iill putadiquid which will dissolve the gum, and abovethe sin kersI provide a cushion, l1", which is kept oiled, and so placed as to fall on'the face of the si'nkers as they revolve, for the purpose of wiping-them cleanand at the same'time oiling them. Theplu'gs, after being pressed," are forced from. the molds by means of a discharger, 12, each. side'and edges of which, and directly in the rear of the face of it, in recesses, I place cloth or other soft substance, which is kept saturated with oil -for.the'purpose of oiling and cleaning the sides and ends of the molds. The discharger is opera-ted upon at the proper moment by a pitback again.

'man'ent-ly consolidated, which prevents it from expanding when discharged from the con ductor. I g s For feeding the machine,'I provide a box or hopper, 15, which may be any desired height and a trifle larger ,each way than the size of; the plug before being pressed, so that the plugs can be thrown in one upon top of the other. The plugs thus placed in the hop: per are forced out endwise by a sliding feeder,

16, attached by a joint to about rod, 17, which is operated upon alternately by a pin, '8, on the pitman 8, and a spring, 18,'on the top of the frame. The pin 8 raises the rod, drawing the feeder in, and the spring 18 throws it This feeder forces the plug into the trough l9, and from thence it is forced into the mold by another sliding feeder, 20, con-' vn'ected with the end of the pitinan 8 bythe rod 21 Thus, by two feeders sliding at right angles to each other, the plugs one after the other are removed from the bottom of the pile inthe hopper and supplied to the molds asthe disk revolves with perfect regularity and precision. The desired rotary motion is given to the'disk 3 by the cam 22 on the main driving-shaft impinging against a cam or starwhcel, 23, which is attached to a shaft having a bevel cog-wheel meshing into another bevel cog-wheel on the shaft attached to the-disk, which rotates .it sufficiently to bring a mold opposite to the sinkers, where it is retained,

in that position by its own friction until the sinkers have done .their work. The sinkers are moved one-quarter of a revolution at every eight pressings bythe following mechanism: Onthe inside of the frame I have a ratchetwheel, '24, with eight teeth,- on which I have acam formed by a small tangent cut on the circle, and jointed to the sinker-bar 25. Ihave a pawl, 26, for the purpose of acting against the teeth of the ratchet-wheel 24, so as to move itonc tooth at each pressing; On the -end of the frame I- have a lever, 27, to the ends of which is jointed two rods or hands, 28' 29, one of which, 29, is long enough to reach a little beyond the sinker-bar and rests on the cam of the ratchet-wheel 24, and it is provided withtwo pins, 30 30, projecting downward near its end, and the other arm, 28, terminating in the form of a ratchet for the purpose of operating upon the shaft. On one end of the sinker-shaft is a ratchet-wheel, 31, with four ratchet-teeth attached to the sinker-bar. 32 is a stiff "spring, which has a catch at its end, so as to fall into a notch out in the shaft of tain any number of molds.

the sinkers, for the purpose of retaining'the.

sinker-shaft in one position while pressing. Now, when the sinker has pressed eight tunes,

the ratchet-wheel 24 will have advanced by the action of the pawl one revolution, which will bring the flat side of the cam of the ratchetwheel 24 on top, which allows the arm 29 to fall, so that the sinker-bar will'be'elamped by the two pins 30 30, and the arm will be impelled bythe sinker-bar, which will impel the arm 28,- the ratchet on the end of which will enter under the spring 32 and raise it out of the notch and at the same time act 'on the teeth of .the ratchet-wheel on the shaft of the.

sinkers, so as to revolve them one-quarter of a revolution.

The dimensions of I the maehi-newill of course be varied according to thesize ofthe plug to be pressed, and the disk can be made to icon- The power is ap plied to-the main; driving-pulley 33 by a belt,

cog-gearing, or in any other way. .It is fed with tobacco through the hopper by a hand, which can at the'sam'e timeattend to the rollercushion for the sinkers and those on. the dis charger. and keep thenr properly supplied with oil. The conductor which receives the tobacco after leaving the mold 'is a veryimportant feature in my invention, which, as before said, is. designed to retain the pressure upon the lumps until they have become thoroughly. consolidated seas tojp revent them from swelling-and loosing the size and shape in' which it is desirablefltopreserve them.

The endless belts or aprons I have found to' answer the purpose well; but lhave other plans which would answer the purpose. The plugs are forced into the conductor by the disch'arger between the belts, the lumps adhere tojthem andicarry them forward, and

the conductor is constantly kept full, each plug as it leaves the molds forcing the mass of plugs forward, dropping one plug out at the opposite end of the conductor at each pressing.

I would here observe that my machine with a few additions and modifications can be admirably well adapted for the purpose of pressing brick with dry clay,. and I intend constructing a machine for the purpose.

Having thus fully described the nature, construction and operation of my improved to-' bacco-press, what I claimtherein as new, and desire to secure byLetters Patent, is-

1. The .use of the revolving mold-disk 3, combined, with its revolving bed-plate 4,with the scraper 5 and cloth-roller 6, or their equivalents, for-keeping the molds free from 3 'the licorice or juice of the tobacco, substantially as described. 2. The use of revolving sinkers 9, constructed substantially as described, combined with the pan 10 and cushion 11, or their equivalents, for keeping the same clean, and the combinationtherewith of mechanism for moving the sinkers a quarter of a revolution atevery eight, more or less, number of pressing "s, In testimony whereof I have hereunto signed substantially asdeseribed, my name before two subscribing witnesses. 3. The conductor formed of endless aprons EPHRAIM PARKER.

or belts, or their equivalents, for confining Witnesses: I

and retaining the plugs under pressure until E. R. BEAN,

they are thoroughly consolidated in manner A. AVERY;

1 and for the purpose substantially set forth. v OHARLEs A. PARKER. 

